Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Gold/silver objects : Disc-shaped pin finial [Χ-Α1606]

Disc-shaped pin finial

Χ-Α1606

Metal (Bronze, Silver)

Finial intact, corroded in places. A small part of the pin is preserved

Diameter: 6 cm.

Chersonissos

Hellenistic period:

300-250 BC:

Gallery:

XXII

Case:

220

Exhibition thematic unit:

Classical - Hellenistic - Roman period (5th c. BC-4th c. AD). The Cemeteries

Jewellery

Description

Large decorative disc-shaped pin finial decorated with a repoussé chariot of the setting sun-god Helios. The scene is iconographically condensed due to the small surface. The god is depicted frontally, only to chest height, his rayed head dominating the centre of the disc, flanked by two pairs of horses similarly depicted only as far as the neck. In the background, three stylised stars represent the starry sky. Below, rendered in perspective in the background, a double arch represents the horizon over the sea, below which the chariot of Helios is lost at sunset. The scene may be eschatological, symbolising the sunset of the life of the mortal in whose tomb the ornament was deposited as a funerary offering. Examples of similar themes from Elis and elsewhere demonstrate the dissemination of the iconographic subject and perhaps indicate that this ornament was imported from mainland Greece.

Bibliography:

Κ. Galanaki, "Χερσόνησος, οικ. Κ. Φιλιππάκη", Αρχαιολογικό Δελτίο 46 (1991/1996), 400, Κ. Galanaki, "Ταφικά σύνολα του ύστερου 4ου-3ου αι. π.Χ. στη Χερσόνησο Πεδιάδος", Πεπραγμένα Θ΄ Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου, vol. Α5, Σ. 15, pl.VI,2. F.H. Marshall, Catalogue of the Jewellery, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, in the Departments of Antiquities, British Museum, London 1911, p. 239, no. 2108 (BM parallel on the right).

Author:

K. S.

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